Burning Bridges
by Saku Hyuuga Ishtar
Summary: Jonouchi/Yuugi. AU. I've burned all the bridges that bind me to this life. My heart... That piece was left behind as the last bridge to burn: love. You need to grow up too, Yuugi.


**A/N:** First of all, thank you so much to _yllimilly_ for helping me with my grammatical mistakes, unfotunately I'm not studying english (all that I know it's thanks to Umineko x'D), so... Anything wrong is entirely my fault.

Constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.

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><p><strong>Burning Bridges<strong>

The place was a mess. The high windows, the only source of ventilation in the room, lit up, with the last rays of the sun, what was undoubtedly a disaster. Scattered papers all over the floor, covered by a red carpet; patchwork pillows, the sheets on the unmade bed in the middle of the room, piles of clothes and... Blood. Blood everywhere.

Yuugi's own blood ran cold as he set foot in the place, like a child entering the cave of a witch. The doorknob had struggled to not let him all, how could a doorknob know that the vision of disaster beyond would cause such an impression? No, it could not. But Jonouchi did and that's probably why he had locked the door with all the strength he had left in his undoubtedly shattered body.

The inspection of the room didn't take long. After looking carefully under the bed and even in the drawers, the young man concluded that no one was there and the property, once owned by the Jonouchi family, was totally abandoned. But where would have Jonouchi gone? Why was the whole house in that state? Chairs overturned, broken dishes, unmade beds... Yuugi understood that, according to reports from the Grand Court of Heaven, Jonouchi lived with his father, a drunken rappist who had separated from his mother only to end up sinking into alcohol. Yuugi also knew, from the reports delivered to his office and from personal experience, that his father hadn't had too much influence over him and that Jonouchi had turned into a good guy in the end.

But knowing that didn't help the case in his hands, a stack of papers filled with names, dates and events. Katsuya Jonouchi had disappeared, according to his sister, about a week ago. The case wouldn't have become so serious if it hadn't been found several bodies and most of all with incriminating traces leading to his best friend on them. The man refused to believe that something had happened, so he had taken the lead in the research, trying to find for himself the one and only truth that prevailed in his eyes: that Jonouchi was innocent. Moreover, he could be in danger, judging from the blood marks all over the room. His heart sank at the thought of that possibility.

Since the blonde had been expelled from the university, he and Yuugi had barely kept in touch, but that in no way meant stopping being friends, right? After all, in Dessedia, a world so small and so united, there was no way to forget a friend.

Dessedia was a small planet ruled by the Great Celestial Court, which itself consisted of attorneys, investigators, lawyers and the grand jury. Yuugi had continuously struggled, since childhood, to adapt himself to that place, where the narrow streets made one feel claustrophobic, as if anything could be kept secret and in which all kinds of phenomena were natural. Growing up, Yuugi upheld a certain reluctance to approach the people around him - why bother, when they were close to him already? He contented himself with spending days reading mystery stories and books from his grandfather's huge library and helping his parents cook dinner. His little bubble of protection broke only when he entered university, where he got acquainted with the few people that were to become his friends. Jonouchi was among them.

The rest wasn't important, no more than memories of teenage forays in the springtime of his youth, which ended abruptly when Jonouchi was expelled. From that day onwards, especially because of his studies, the communication between their group of friends dwindled to almost nothing, as if an invisible wall separated their worlds.

Had the youngest Mutou been asked under what circumstances he would have liked to see his old friend again, his answer would definitely have been anything but this. Not looking for him like a potential criminal or victim. Not invading his privacy like a mere thief. Not checking his house for hidden secrets. However, and although the task was difficult, he didn't believe there was nobody better than him to help to see things from another perspective. A perspective that, unlike the rest of team, didn't involve Jonouchi being 'guilty'.

"Have you found anything?" Yuugi, who wore a simple indigo suit, had stopped in his tracks without even realizing it, standing still below the window. He brushed his wandering thoughts aside, focusing on the case. Not on who or how, but _why_.

The men in his small department shared knowing glances, as if hiding a terrible secret.

"Sir, we have found this at the foot of bed, directly under a endless unpaid bills" said one of the men, wearing an indigo, military-style suit. The man extended the palm of his hand, which seemed to glow in the light of the only focus of the room. However, his palm itself had nothing magical nor special; what shimmered gently in it was a crystal rock the size of a baseball, roughly as thick as the half of a common heart. The broken half of a heart split in two.

Yuugi had heard rumors that such a thing - a split heart - was possible. He had never known of anyone who tried it, much less someone who actually did it. To separate the heart-mind, irrational, sentimental part of a person requires strong will. Nobody seemed to have tried on Dessedia or ever achieved it. Unlike other people who got rid of other parts of their character, like sharp crystals in the case of anger or small pieces of what appeared stalagmites if they were tears. Yes, it could be possible and there were people who did that kind of stuff, but he never had found a _heart_ before.

As the chief investigator, Yuugi nodded in a clear gesture to the officer asking him to deliver the evidence. He did not want to believe it was so easy, but he couldn't pretend he didn't rejoice at this discovery, either. Virtually, Jonouchi's irrational mind was contained in that fragment - not all of it, but perhaps enough to determine where he was and why he had left.

"How I can use it?" Was Yuugi's next question. He was cradling the crystal in his hands now. It had a slightly golden shine, not unlike his owner's hair. And it was also warm, like those smiles he would often give his friends. Yuugi was happy to have found this evidence, very happy. But something in his mind alerted him. If Jonouchi has left his heart behind, his irrational part, then he...

"It is said that if it is directed against the light, one can see in its interior," whispered one of the officers. Or they'd solve the case, or they'd lose valuable hours of their lives as well as the lives of other hypothetical victims.

Without saying anything, accepting the paranormal nature of the situation, even when it had been proved that the planet itself was paranormal, Yuugi did what he was told and raised his hand pointing directly at the focus of the room, so its rays could traverse the almost throbbing glass. Then, at once, several gold rays danced on the walls of the place, which had been rendered dark by nightfall.

Nothing happened at first. But after a few seconds, before the gasp of one of the men in the room, the crystal began to project, almost like a movie, the story of a life Yuugi thought he knew.

"Listen, Katsuya, I've burned all the bridges that bind me to this life." The vision was shown from Jonouchi's eyes. It showed his father a decade ago, bottle in hand, eyes lost in their own fury, speaking to him one Saturday in which other normal families went out for a walk. "Your damn mother, she burned our bridge, your sister... Yes, she destroyed that too. But I" - he waved, like a weapon of war, his bottle, trying to focus on his son with his black eyes, "I'll burn the bridge I have with you, useless! You moron!"

A hit, another hit, and the scene faded. Of course, Yuugi already knew about the precarious situation between the father and the son, who lived detesting each other. Indeed, one of the bodies found was that of Jonouchi's father. That fact made Yuugi pale, while the rest of the officers viewed it as a possible reason for the slaughter.

The next scene took place many years after the first, Yuugi can recognize the teenager Jonouchi wearing his uniform from the University, but he had no traces of the determined look he had while facing his father, or the hint of a smile that was always present on his lips as if life was just a big joke. Yuugi knows why, the heart's memory does not need to tell him: it was the day Jonouchi was expelled. His grades had always been low - blame his father? No one knew, but that and the violent behavior that the blond occasionally came to exhibit earned him the displeasure of the director and his expulsion as well.

"Leave me alone, Yuugi! How could you understand me?" The blond grabbed Yuugi by his collar, lifting him several inches in the air only to face him. It was the same memory, just a memory and still he could not avoid touching his neck as if he still could feel those hands squeezing it with hatred.

"But you can still continue studying! We can still be friends!" His words sounded pathetic from the crystal that simulated a television very badly. "Nothing is lost, Jou!"

.

Jonouchi could almost hear the words from his own heart that he had left shattered in his room. He didn't need it, not when all the bridges were already burned, and useless.

Yuugi would probably be looking at the causes that had led him to murder, to dispose of the best evidence against him, just enough to retain his humanity if he was still human. He had wandered the streets after having disposed of his useless irrational part, just like the day had been expelled from university. He had roamed the streets, dreading the moment he would come home to hear his father's taunts, words of sympathy from her mother and encouragement, surely, from the eternally devote Shizuka.

He was angry with the world, back then and now. He was angry because he had wanted to build a bridge, a career, make it clear to his father that he wasn't useless or a loser. And what had the world done? Yes, break the bridge, the bridge until it burned to rubble. Yuugi was so naive! So naive! Rebuilding? No, it was impossible, always a mark would remain on the repaired monument.

Yuugi might also be watching what happened next. The fight to death against his drunken father, a split lip, insults across the room with the speed of spades. The derisive laughter, the miserable days. Would he feel pity? Probably, and it made him feel even more angry. He didn't needed it, had never needed it. And yet, many people gave it to him, many people took pity on the poor uneducated delinquent.

How could they know? How could Yuugi know, he who later graduated from law school with honors? Who then would have a secure future, a steady job? Who was not subjected to the looks of pity?

He had endured the looks for five years. He had remained, the good guy, a role model for her younger sister, but as always, when he began to adapt to his life, something came to break his world.

Yuugi also would see it, if he collected the pieces scattered throughout the house. He would see how he was verbally humiliated beyond limits. He would see how he was reduced to mere flesh by his own father! The looks of pity in his back again and even, even Yuugi himself, believing him to be another one of those who were unfortunate enough to live on the streets.

Many people, probably, would find it funny or stupid, but Jonouchi was no longer able to endure it. The bridges that he once thought were solid started to crumble and the best were burned before they'd be abandoned. First his father, then those who dared to look at him as an inferior. Finally Yuugi and his empty and unnecessary words.

He no longer had an irrational part in him, the part which made him feel before he acted. Something that reproached him with the pain of regret his misdeeds. That piece was left behind as the last bridge to burn: love.

Yuugi could keep it as the last relic of the friendship that he believed he had known. Jonouchi no longer needed it.

The last bridge had been burned with effort, blood covered the walls of his room as it was destroyed, resisting the process. Unless he got caught, unless Yuugi overcame the feeling of guilt and would stand for the first time in his life, as the man he was, many more would suffer the same fate.

**THE END.**


End file.
